Memories of Us

Chapter 4

The very beginning.

White lights hurt Draco's eyes as he blinked away the sleep. He was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Suddenly things came rushing back to him, the spell, the bathroom, the blood, Snape....Potter. Hot anger surged through Draco at the memory of Potter almost killing him by hitting him with the Sectumsempra spell. He ruined one of Draco's nice shirts. Draco would have some nasty scars he'd have to take care of if he wanted them to disappear. He wished he could hex Potter on the spot. But all of that anger was followed by the tiniest bit of concern; Snape would punish Harry severely—not that he didn't deserve it—and Draco didn't particularly like the thought of Potter suffering at Snape's hand. Well, actually he really liked the thought, but not as severely as he knew Snape would take things. No matter how badly Potter deserved it. Draco wasn't sure if Snape had any limits at all, especially not when it came to Potter.

The room appeared to be completely empty. The bright pale lights were on even though it was clearly the middle of the night judging by the view out the window. Suddenly there was a shift in his peripheral vision, causing his eyes to instinctively flicker in that direction. Most of the lights turned off, giving the room a dim, less harsh glow that put Draco's eyes at ease.  "Who's there?" The Slytherin asked. Now perched in a sitting position on his infirmary bed, he narrowed his eyes in that direction.

Nothing.

Draco began to relax and tell himself it was only a breeze or his eyes getting adjusted and that the lights must be some kind of time sensitive magic. But after a moment he could feel a presence beside his bed. "Something is here," he said aloud. "You might as well show yourself. Clearly you want to be in here to see me so it's only fair I should get to see you...unless you're too much of a coward." Draco didn't like not knowing what was happening or being out of control. At that moment, he'd been experiencing both. His discomfort only made him harsher.

Harry Potter was not a coward and wasn't going to let anyone say so either. Unsure and with shaky hands, Harry uncovered himself from the cloak. He didn't meet Malfoy's eyes, and he swallowed visibly; he was very obviously nervous. There was guilt overshadowing his normally challenging demeanor and fear in his eyes as he stared at his own feet. Perhaps, he thought, Malfoy will kill me now, right here. Perhaps I deserve it.

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, the boy in recovery decided to proceed cautiously. "What do you want, Potter? Here to finish off the job?" He harshly laughed. "We both know you're not going to be able to kill me while I'm of good health."

Potter's eyes flicked up to Draco's. "Kill you?" He seemed shocked. "Merlin! Of course not! I. . .,"  he paused, realizing that he'd never really thought about how he was going to explain his concern once he stepped out of the cloak.  He'd never considered stepping out of the cloak when he thought about checking on him. "I didn't know what the spell would do. I just . . . I was worried, and I felt bad for—for, well,—and I—for almost—" he rambled.

"Spit it out, Potter."

"For almost killing you."

"Why do you care?" Draco crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed.  The gesture hurt but he wasn't going to let Potter see that.

"I don't want you to die, Draco!" The name was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Harry actually wasn't sure why he cared. He didn't think he was supposed to since Malfoy was his enemy, but he still didn't want him to die.

It caught the injured boy's attention when Potter didn't call him 'Malfoy'. It made him suspicious of Potter's intentions. "Again, why do you care?"

Harry felt sorry for everything he'd ever done to Draco in the past. Harry didn't want to kill anyone at Hogwarts. Not even Draco, no matter how big of a prat he was. Had he really made people believe he wanted to see him dead? His guilt made him babble nervously. "I care because you don't deserve to die. I care because you're important. I care because I have so much to say before you die. I care because I'd never forgive myself for taking away any chance of you having a future. I care because while I was watching you bleed and thought you were a goner, I wished I'd spent less time hating you and more time doing this." Harry leaned forward and kissed him.